


Home Truths

by BarPurple



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-14
Updated: 2016-09-14
Packaged: 2018-08-15 00:24:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8034808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BarPurple/pseuds/BarPurple
Summary: It had to be the hormones that were making her so short tempered.





	Home Truths

“Oh boo hoo.”

Regina twisted on her heel and glared at Rumple, except instead of finding a sneer on his face she found him looking at Belle with a faint smile on his lips. For all it had sounded like the Dark One speaking the words had actually come from his wife. Regina arched an eyebrow and planted her hands on her hips as she turned her glare on to Belle.

“Excuse me?”

The little bookworm rolled her eyes.

“Are you listening to the self-pitying rubbish that you’re spouting?” Belle’s voice took on a sing-song tone as she parroted back part of Regina’s recent list of woes, “It’s so hard living with the Evil Queen inside of me, no matter how hard I try to be good she’s always there pulling me back into darkness. I’m torn between the two and can never be happy.”

Belle jabbed a finger at Regina, “I hate to break it to you, but that’s how everybody feels all the time. Every person in every realm has a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other. There’s not a soul alive who hasn’t done things they regret, or wish they could change. And everyone who found themselves in Storybrooke the first time round had that twice over. You think it’s easy for any of us to have two separate lives in our heads? You think that we don’t feel torn between the people we are and the people we were under the Curse? Thanks to your determination that none of us should be happy I’ve got two sets of Cursed memories bouncing around up here and coming to terms with that has been hell and hurt the person I love,” She didn’t take her eyes from Regina, but she squeezed Rumple’s arm before she continued, “I worked through it and made more mistakes along the way, but I certainly didn’t grab at an ill-thought out pseudo-science experiment to get rid of the part of me I can’t stand. But no, you had to try and find an easy answer to your problems as usual and now we’re neck deep in trouble again, because you think the world owes you something special.”  
Belle drew in a deep breath and huffed it out in frustration at the stunned uncomprehending look on Regina’s face.

“Why do we keep trying to help you when you won’t help yourself? The rest of us have learned from our mistakes, but you just keep making the same ones in new and spectacular ways. You going to get us all killed and you’re not even going to feel sorry about it, it’ll just be another way the universe screwed you over.”

Belle shook her head and the look in her eyes turned from fury to pity.

“I’m done with you Regina. I can’t, I won’t help you anymore because you’re never going to change. You’re always going to be the sad, sorry little girl who didn’t get her happy ending handed to her on a silver platter.”

With that Belle walked out of the Mayor’s office. The tapping of her heels hadn’t quite faded before Rumple cleared his throat and smiled at the gathered heroes.

“I’m with Belle on this one. Good luck with Hyde, and Evil Regina.”

He strode out without a backward glance at the slack jawed shocked looks on the faces of the heroes. Henry put his head in his hands and wondered if any previous Authors had wanted to throttle the characters they had to write about. It really didn’t help that these characters were his family, in fact that probably explained why the urge to bang their heads together was so strong. 

Rumple caught up with Belle outside, she was leaning against the wall taking in shuddering gasps of breath. He stood in front of her and ran his hands soothingly over her upper arms.

“What do I just do?”

“Gave Regina a piece of your mind, sweetheart.”

“Oh gods, I was harsh wasn’t I?”

“I don’t think you were, so maybe just a little bit.”

She couldn’t help the giggle that burst from her at the twinkle in his eye. She ran her hands over her pregnant belly.

“I think the hormones are getting to me, I don’t normally let that sort of thing out of my head.”

He tilted his head at her.

“I think you should more often. It’s about time the heroes were given a few home truths to face up too.”

“We’re still going to help them aren’t we?”

Rumple took a slow breath; “I think we probably will, but they can sweat and worry about doing it on their own for tonight at least. Let me take you home, sweetheart.”  
Belle nodded, but felt the familiar pang of homesickness, home wasn’t the silly pink house here in Storybrooke, home was the Dark Castle and she couldn’t see how they would ever get back there.


End file.
